P007065 revised AU-VU:EOAS Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation

All key entry types: Awards; Concepts; Corporate Bodies (Organisations); Cultural Artefacts; People; etc

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 English AACR2 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules Person created 2022-07-20 human Ken McInnes updated 2026-03-25 human https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P007065b.htm person Brain Orlando William Cornelius AACR2 17 April 1866 6 June 1936 Place of Birth Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England Place of Death Killara, New South Wales, Australia Electrical engineer Orlando Brain MIEE MIEAust, was an Assistant Commissioner of the New South Wales Government Railways and Tramways 1925-1932. He joined the Railways Department in 1896 as Chief Assistant to the Electrical Engineer, and from 1899 for the next 26 years was Chief Electrical Engineer for Railways and Tramways. During this period the Sydney tramways and suburban railways were converted to electric traction. In addition to all the electrical work related to the railways and tramways, he was also responsible for bulk electricity supplies to the City Council, Sydney suburban areas, Newcastle, Maitland, and Singleton and district. His early experience in electrical work was gained in England and Australia, under his father W Blanch Brain, a pioneer in electrical engineering. Orlando also acted in a consulting capacity for other branches of the public service including: the original electrical installation for the low level sewerage system of Sydney; the electrical equipment for many moveable bridges; the coal crane at Newcastle; and he was a member of the Commission on Electricity in Mines. Brain was the first lecturer in Electrical Engineering at the University of Sydney. He was also a member of the Munitions Committee at the beginning of the First World War; of the Rain Precipitation Investigation Committee; of the Commonwealth Engineering Standards Association; and of the Trade Advisory Board of the Sydney Technical College. In 1926 he was awarded the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal, career achievement award in engineering, by the Institution of Engineers Australia. 1885 1885 Life event - Moved to Australia, with his parents and siblings 1885 1887 Career position - Assistant to the Superintendent of Telephones, Tasmania 1887 1895 Career position - Electrical engineer, Crompton Electrical Company and its Australia agents [Managing many works including: the first Australian town lighting plant at Tamworth, NSW (1888); the first Australian mining power plant at Co-operative Colliery, Plattsburg, Newcastle, NSW (1893); and the hydro-electric plant and quartz stamping battery at Hillgrove, NSW (1894).] 1891 1914 Career event - Member, Electrical Association of New South Wales 1891 1915 Career event - Foundation Member, Electrical Association of New South Wales 1894 1894 Life event - Married Amy Foxton Robertson, Wollongong, New South Wales 1896 1899 Career position - Chief Assistant to Electrical Engineer, Railways Department, New South Wales [under P.B. Elwell MIEE] 1897 1899 Career position - Chief Electrical Engineer, Railways Department, New South Wales 1899 1899 Career event - Member (MIEE), Institution of Electrical Engineers, London 1899 1900 Career position - President, Electrical Association of New South Wales 1899 1924 Career position - Chief Electrical Engineer, Railways and Tramways, New South Wales 1900 1900 Career event - Introduced the Electric Train Staff in New South Wales railway operations c. 1901 1903 Career position - Lecturer, Electrical engineering, University of Sydney 1902 1903 Career event - Overseas tour of America, Europe and England 1910 1910 Career event - Representative of New South Wales, at the International Railway Conference, Berne, Switzerland. Later recommended the salient features of the railway electrification system for Sydney. 1911 1912 Career position - President, Electrical Association of New South Wales 1914 1915 Career position - President (first), Federal Council, Electrical Association of Australia 1914 1919 Career event - Member, Electrical Association of Australia, New South Wales section 1915 1917 Career position - Member of the Rain Precipitation Investigation Committee 1919 1919 Career event - Foundation Associate Member (AMIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia 1920 1920 Career position - Chairman of committee, Report on bulk supply of electricity in NSW 1920 1920 Career event - Member (MIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia 1920 1920 Career position - Consultant to Queensland government. [Valuator of Brisbane Tramways, and Report on power supply for the Brisbane Tramways Trust.] 1922 1926 Career position - Representative of the Institution of Engineers Australia, on the Commonwealth Engineering Standards Association 1925 1932 Career position - Assistant Commissioner, New South Wales Government Railways and Tramways 1926 1926 Award - Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal - Career Achievement Award in Engineering. Institution of Engineers Australia 1932 1932 Life event - Retired Brain, Vivian James Foxton (1896 - 1957)

Vivian Brain was the son of Orlando Brain

 Strickland, Tom Percival (1875 - 1955)

Strickland was Assistant Chief Electrical Engineer 1902 - 1921, when Brain was Chief Electrical Engineer 1899 - 1924, for Railways and Tramways, NSW

 Electrical Association of New South Wales (1891 - 1915)

President 1899 - 1900 and 1911 - 1912

 Electrical Association of Australia (1915 - 1919)

First President of Federal Council, 1914 - 1915

 Commonwealth Engineering Standards Association (1922 - 1929)

Representative of the Institution of Engineers Australia, on the Commonwealth Engineering Standards Association 1922-1926

 Institution of Engineers, Australia (1919 - )

Representative of the Institution of Engineers Australia, on the Commonwealth Engineering Standards Association 1922 - 1926

 The University of Sydney (1850 - )

First lecturer in electrical engineering

 New South Wales Department of Railways, State of New South Wales (1932 - ?)

Assistant Commissioner 1925 - 1932; Chief Electrical Engineer 1897 - 1924.

 Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal, Institution of Engineers, Australia (1922 - )

Awarded the Medal 1926.

 'Brain, Orlando William Cornelius', in Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology Brain, Orlando William Cornelius Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Journal Article: Seventh Annual General Meeting [March 1927] and Seventh Annual Report [1926] Institution of Engineers Australia Seventh Annual General Meeting [March 1927] and Seventh Annual Report [1926] 1927 Transactions of the Institution of Engineers, Australia 7 xvi-xli Journal Article: White Bay electric power house, New South Wales (Illustrated) Brain, O. W. White Bay electric power house, New South Wales (Illustrated) 1918 Commonwealth Engineer 6 1 22-24 Journal Article: Presidential address. Electrical Association of New South Wales Brain, O.W. Presidential address. Electrical Association of New South Wales 1911-12 Proceedings of the Electrical Association of New South Wales 5-30 Journal Article: Some notes on the metropolitan electric power supply of the N.S.W. railway commissioners Brain, O.W. Some notes on the metropolitan electric power supply of the N.S.W. railway commissioners 1918-19 Proceedings of the Electrical Association of Australia, New South Wales Section IV 1918-1919 57-85; 87-91 Resource: Electrical Engineer Membership Forms, 1871-1901 Institution of Electrical Engineers, London Electrical Engineer Membership Forms, 1871-1901 ancestry.com Newspaper Article: Mr. O. W. Brain Anon Mr. O. W. Brain 1925 The Land (Sydney) 9 Journal Article: Memoirs Memoirs 1936 Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia 8 9 361-362 Journal Article: Third Annual General Meeting [March 1923] and Third Annual Report [1922] Institution of Engineers Australia Third Annual General Meeting [March 1923] and Third Annual Report [1922] 1924 Transactions of the Institution of Engineers, Australia 3 xiv-xxxix Journal Article: P.N.R. Memorial Medal - 1941 Award [R. J. Boyd, M.E., M.I.E.Aust.] P.N.R. Memorial Medal - 1941 Award [R. J. Boyd, M.E., M.I.E.Aust.] 1941 Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia 13 12 295 Book Section: Chapter 13: The tramways of Sydney McCarthy, Ken Chapter 13: The tramways of Sydney Crows Nest, New South Wales Engineers Australia 1989 Sydney: from settlement to city: an engineering history of Sydney Don Fraser 257-270 Journal Article: P. N. Russell Memorial Medal [List of recipients 1923 - 1931] P. N. Russell Memorial Medal [List of recipients 1923 - 1931] 1931 Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia 3 12 445